Trial reportBMC medicine2024
Effect of combined treatment with transcranial direct current stimulation and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation compared to monotherapy for the treatment of chronic insomnia: a randomised, double-blind, parallel-group, controlled trial.
Trial report in BMC medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for insomnia disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Adjunctive transcranial direct current stimulation for cognitive improvement in schizophrenia: insights from a systematic review and exploratory meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Knowledge map of transcranial magnetic stimulation for insomnia: a bibliometric and visual analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Trial
- Prophylactic Effect of Prefrontal Alternating Current Stimulation on Postoperative Sleep Disturbance in Patients Undergoing Gynecological Laparoscope: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Sham-Controlled Trial.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2025Trial
- Trial
- rTMS for rapid relief of sleep disorders induced by influenza virus infection: a clinical retrospective study.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Physical factor therapies for insomnia: a narrative review of mechanisms, clinical evidence, and phenotype-guided applications.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- From Therapeutic Heterogeneity to Precision Neuromodulation: Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation for Chronic Insomnia.Nature and science of sleep · 2026Review
- Neural mechanisms and neuromodulation therapies for non-suicidal self-injury.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Review
- Alterations in coupling between global brain activity and cerebrospinal fluid flow in patients with insomnia disorder before and after transcranial direct current stimulation: a resting-state functional MRI study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Synergistic acupuncture and neuromodulation for chronic insomnia: a structured narrative review with systematic search and future directions.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChronic insomnia increases the risk of various health problems and mental illness. Existing research suggests promise for both transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in treating chronic insomnia individually. However, the combined effects of tDCS and rTMS on this condition remain unclear. This study aimed to verify the efficacy and safety of tDCS combined with rTMS for the treatment of adult patients with chronic insomnia.
methodsThis was a randomised double-blind parallel-group controlled study. Overall, 157 participants with chronic insomnia were randomly assigned to one of three neurotherapy regimens: tDCS + rTMS, sham tDCS + rTMS, or tDCS + sham rTMS. All groups received 20 treatment sessions over 4 consecutive weeks. The primary outcome was the change in patients' sleep as assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 3 months of follow-up. The secondary outcome was the assessment of different dimensions of depression and anxiety in patients through the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), as well as the occurrence of adverse events.
resultsThroughout the intervention and after the 3-month follow-up, the tDCS + rTMS group had significantly reduced total PSQI scores compared with the other two groups [tDCS + rTMS, 9.21 vs. sham tDCS + rTMS, 10.03; difference - 1.10; 95% confidence interval (CI), - 1.82 to - 0.38; p = 0.003; tDCS + rTMS, 9.21 vs. tDCS + sham rTMS, 10.76; difference - 2.14; 95% CI, - 2.90 to - 1.38; p < 0.001; sham tDCS + rTMS, 10.03 vs. tDCS + sham rTMS, 10.76; difference - 1.04; 95% CI, - 1.82 to - 0.26; p = 0.010), indicating improved overall sleep quality. Total HAMD and insomnia factor scores were significantly lower in the tDCS + rTMS group than in the other two groups after treatment (p < 0.05). Notably, no adverse events or serious adverse reactions were observed during the study period.
conclusionsCombining tDCS with rTMS effectively relieved insomnia symptoms, achieving a significant therapeutic effect after 2-week of intervention, and demonstrating the persistence of treatment effects in later follow-up, emphasising the advantages of combination therapy in improving treatment stability and long-term benefits, reflecting the rapid and effective augmentation of combination therapy. This combined therapy may serve as a safe and effective treatment for adults with chronic insomnia.
trial registrationThis study was registered as a clinical trial with the China Clinical Trial Registration Center (ChiCTR2100052681).
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.